Olusola: Innovation Allowed Us Provide More Value to Customers

As the world celebrates International Women’s Day with the theme, “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality,” the Managing Director Transcorp Hotels Plc, Dupe Olusola, explains how innovation was integral to her firm’s growth. She also spoke on her career journey and other industry issues. Nume Ekeghe presents the accepts

Describe your background and what did you do before you became CEO of Transcorp Hotel

I always wanted to do something in development, something with African economies, aid and growth. I knew it had to be something that had impact and created employment and addressed poverty. It was funny, growing up; I would lie down and be glued to CNN. That was always something. I just wanted to know what was happening around the world. Somehow, I gravitated towards Economics which I studied at the University of Leicester, and then went on to study Development Economics with my thesis on the Impact of Aid and Trade on Growth in developing economies. 

I attended Queen’s College, Lagos, where I obtained my GCE O-levels in 1991. After O-levels, I enrolled at the University of Leicester, United Kingdom where I graduated in 1996 and went on to obtain a master’s degree (MSc) in Development Economics from the University of Kent in 1997. After my Masters, I worked in different roles with Bloomberg and Northern Trust in the United Kingdom before moving back to Nigeria.

In Nigeria, I worked at SecTrust (now Afrinvest) and thereafter with Africa’s leading Private Equity Firm SME Manager/African Capital Alliance and joined the Investor Relations department of the UBA group in 2008 before a move to Transcorp as Director of Resources in January 2010. Prior to my role as MD/CEO, Transcorp Hotels Plc, I was Group Marketing Director at the United Bank for Africa and I loved it. I had a wonderful team. I also served as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria-based agricultural company, Teragro Commodities Limited, the agribusiness subsidiary of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (now Transnational Corporation Plc). I was appointed to the position in 2014.

Can you speak on Transcorp hotel?

Transcorp Hotels Plc. is the hospitality subsidiary of Transnational Corporation Plc (“Transcorp Group”). ‘Transcorp Group’ is a diversified conglomerate with interests in Power, Hospitality, and Oil & Gas sectors. Transcorp Hotels Plc was incorporated on the 12th of July 1994 in Nigeria. We are the owners of the prestigious Transcorp Hilton Abuja, Transcorp Hotels Calabar and Aura by Transcorp Hotels, an online platform for booking homes, hotels and experiences. Since 1994, the company has undergone a number of notable changes and attained some major milestone achievements. 

What has made you successful, what do you value? 

Wow, what has made me successful? First, I would like to establish that success is relative as it means different things to different people. For me, success is being your absolute best and constantly seeking growth in all ramifications to be the best version of yourself and produce great results. I would say what has made me successful by my standards is actively a well-rounded life, socially, emotionally, mentally, physically and financially. I have pushed boundaries and redefined the status quo as an individual and with the teams I have been opportune to work with to meet and exceed set objectives. I believe I am teachable and open to every learning experience as anybody can teach you something new. Being authentic is also very important to me. Staying true to my values and myself and with my family and team as amazing support systems, I have attained my current level of success and aim to achieve more. 

Which are the major services of the company and how does it get ahead in the competition? What value-added services do the company provide?

Transcorp Hotels Plc is Africa’s leading hospitality company, listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX). We own Africa’s leading business hotel, Transcorp Hilton Abuja. However, through some innovative strategies introduced at the onset of the pandemic, Transcorp Hilton Abuja has grown to cater for even more segments than its traditional business, including leisure, leading the way in catering to the fast-growing Bleisure segment. We are also the proud owners of Aura by Transcorp Hotels, a fast-growing digital platform for booking hotels, apartments, and experiences. We launched Aura by Transcorp Hotels in 2021 as part of our asset-light strategy. Aura by Transcorp Hotels is an online platform for booking hotels and apartments, as well as experiences. The platform is helping us expand to places it would have otherwise taken us many years to expand to. Today, we have over 5,000 rooms and counting across different hotels and apartments nationwide. With Aura by Transcorp Hotels, we are leveraging the power of technology to fast-track growth.

Also, we work closely with different stakeholders and introduce innovative offers to continue to improve demand, even as we expand our business. We are delivering a world-class event centre at Transcorp Hilton Abuja in 2024. We are also working on a new five-star hotel in the heart of Lagos, Africa’s big apple.

What are the most important aspects of a company’s culture? What principles do you believe in and how do you build this culture?

Our core values are Excellence, Execution and Enterprise. These three Es are the key pillars upon which our organisational culture is built. Excellence means the highest level of effectiveness in achieving real results. With enterprise comes innovation, and the only way to execute with excellence is to maintain a high level of integrity that ensures every stakeholder is committed to our common goal. Our core values have certainly helped us build and maintain a culture of integrity and innovation at Transcorp Hotels Plc., which are some of the important reasons for our continuous growth. 

Our core values are in our day-to-day lives; our standards of practice, team onboarding, and induction, and this is not only at Transcorp Hotels Plc, but these guiding principles are shared across the Transcorp Group.

What is the significance of innovative ideas in the company?  

The significance of innovative ideas cannot be overemphasised because innovation keeps the company at the cutting edge of service delivery. Innovation is what improves our operations and processes, ultimately allowing us to provide more value to our guests and stakeholders as a whole. Innovation allows us to stay relevant with today and tomorrow’s world as well as differentiate our brand. At the height of the pandemic, occupancy went as low as 5% at our flagship property Transcorp Hilton Abuja, with losses staring us in the face. We were only able to overcome that difficult period through innovation. We introduced new offerings that were totally in line with people’s idea of safety at the time, ensuring they could have it both ways; be safe and still enjoying our premium hospitality. From drive-in cinema to food take out options and a Clean Stay initiative that ensured deep cleaning of rooms and public places at the hotel, our guests were able to have a good time while being assured of their health and safety. We were arguably the first hotel in most of Africa to recover from the impact of the pandemic; innovation gave us an edge. 

Give us your opinion on this: do organisations rely heavily on individual heroics or team processes?

Really, there are different types of organisations; some rely on individual brilliance and heroics, maybe of a founder or some key members of the team, while others rely fully on team processes. And no organisation is by no means wrong to choose whatever works for it. However, the big difference is always sustainability. Most of the sustainable organisations out there are built on processes; even when they get some breakthroughs through individual brilliance, they institutionalise such and make it part of their process. If the hero decides to leave, the organisation doesn’t take a big hit, as the breakthrough has now become everyone’s breakthrough and the team can manage it without the hero. That is how I believe one builds to last. If you rely on heroes, progress can easily be hampered by the sudden departure of the hero through any means, including ill health or death. The danger of relying on heroes isn’t just about them getting a better offer and leaving.  

What are your responsibilities as a CEO of the company? What is the happiest part of your daily routine?

In a nutshell, I am responsible for strategic direction; developing the company’s strategies, providing strategic advice to various organizational and functional leaders, and generally helping the company achieve its goals.

We have been able to build a culture of excellence, execution, and enterprise at Transcorp Hotels, which all our employees imbibe. We have a common goal that we are working towards and the hunger to achieve the things we have set out to achieve keeps us all motivated. My colleagues are self-motivated, but we ensure that their working conditions are great, career progression is catered to, and there is always a new challenge; you can’t run out of things to motivate you.

The happiest part of my daily routine is my interaction with my colleagues and family. The daily growth brings me joy.

What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time? 

Your team is there to support you. If they win, you win. Continue to push boundaries and break the glass ceilings. Be open to opportunities that come your way and do not let the fear of failing keep you from taking a chance on things. Do not be afraid; it is better than not doing it at all.

Also, you are not an island; there is a limit to what you can do alone. Network and collaborate with like-minded people, and foster strategic partnerships for optimal growth.